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Comp-Time Bill Passes House, but Faces Tough Trip Ahead

Private-sector employers could adopt a policy allowing
workers to receive paid time off in lieu of overtime wages for hours worked
over 40 in a week under a measure that passed the House of Representatives May
2 by a vote of 229-to-197.

Although the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017 (H.R.
1180) previously had passed the House’s committee on a straight party-line
vote, it was met with heated debate on the House floor, and the final vote
tally reflected that six Republicans had crossed party lines to vote against
the bill.

Many Republican representatives issued statements heralding
the bill’s passage, such as Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), chairman of the subcommittee
on Workforce Protections, who repeated what had become a frequent mantra of
those endorsing the bill that, by
passing the measure, “we have taken an important step toward bringing our
workforce laws into the 21st century.”

Democratic representatives countered with statements
lamenting the bill’s passage, such as Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), ranking
member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, who repeated a frequent
counterclaim that the bill “gives employees no meaningful rights they don’t
already have, and gives employers the flexibility and the power to withhold
overtime pay in exchange for a false promise of comp time in the future.”

Despite such statements that echo conflicting takes on the
measure’s provision that extends to the private sector a comp-time option that
the public sector already has and its provision allowing employers to hold up
to 160 accrued overtime hours for 13 months before the time must be converted
to pay, the bill has only made it halfway through Congress, and the next step
may be the toughest.

At least eight times since the 104th Congress in
1995 has a similar comp time bill been introduced in the House, including one introduced in the 113th
Congress by Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.), who is the sponsor of the bill now under
consideration. Of these measures, three successfully passed the House, but not
one passed the Senate, which failed to act on all three measures.

Favoring passage of a comp time bill during this legislative
session is support from powerful sources. The Senate bill (S. 180),
a companion to H.R. 1180, was introduced
April 3 by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and referred to the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions committee. The measure’s 18 co-sponsors include the
committee’s chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the majority leader. The HELP
committee includes 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats, which suggests the measure
could make it to the Senate floor.

In addition, the White House issued a statement after House passage
of H.R. 1180 on May 2, indicating that if H.R. 1180 were presented to President
Donald Trump in its current form, his advisers would recommend that he sign the
bill into law.

However, first, H.R. 1180 and S. 180 would have to survive
what is likely to be a ferocious challenge.

A bill needs 51 votes to pass the Senate or 60 votes to
break a filibuster, so a measure could face a lengthy debate. The Senate has 52
Republicans and 46 Democrats; there are two Independents.

Whether Democratic senators would be willing to mount a challenge to H.R. 1180 or S. 180 is an open
question, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass), a member of the HELP committee, called
the House’s passage of H.R. 1180 “a disgrace” in a May 2 statement.

“With working families across the country scraping to make
ends meet, Congress should strengthen protections for workers—not gut
protections already on the books,” Warren said.

Stay tuned.

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